Number of Rockford arson fires up in 2013

ROCKFORD — A three-day arson spree is partly responsible for a significant increase in the number of suspected arson fires so far this year in Rockford.

One man is suspected in a string of at least 11 fires set in trash containers and vacant houses in early August over a few days. That helped to drive a 38 percent increase in arson fires so far in 2013, Rockford Fire Department Inspector Mark Marinaro said.

But that series of fires, which resulted in an arrest and remains under investigation, cannot explain all of the year-to-date increase.

There were 98 arson fires through September compared with 71 in 2012.

“We see a lot of burning property because they want to get rid of it for insurance purposes, fraud,” Marinaro said. “You also have retaliation fires, which is what most of the arson fires are. We see fires set by people mad because someone owes them money ... there are mental health issues a lot of times with serial arsonists and fortunately, we don’t see a lot of that.”

Although the number of arson fires is up so far this year, the number of fires overall is down.

Data from the Rockford Fire Department shows that through September, there were 588 fires in Rockford, down from 737 in 2012, a 20 percent decrease driven by far fewer garbage, grass and accidental Dumpster fires.

Inspectors sort through the charred remains of fires to determine how and where they began. Although some evidence can be destroyed in a fire, enough is left behind for fire investigators to determine how a fire was started.